Promoters: Holyfield will fight in China next year
November 6, 2000
HONG KONG (AP) -- WBA champion Evander Holyfield, putting weeks of speculation to rest, has agreed to fight in Beijing next year.
Jim Thomas, Holyfield's manager, reached a deal last Friday with Niu Li-xin, director of Beijing-based Great Wall International Sports Media Co. Ltd., Great Wall spokeswoman Chen Ying said Tuesday.
Chen said the fight is expected to take place in February or June, with additional details to be released at a news conference in Hong Kong later Tuesday.
There is speculation that Holyfield, 37, will fight against the WBA's top-ranked contender, which could be a rematch against John Ruiz.
Reports last month said that Holyfield would fight in China, but Thomas said at the time that there had been discussions between the sides.
Holyfield, the three-time heavyweight champion, said he wants to recover his undisputed title lost to Lennox Lewis in 1999, and then retire. (LPS5 note: Not likely.)
Great Wall has said it will shoulder about 10 percent of the fight's $40 million costs, and hoped to boost Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics. |
